Work Text:
Somehow Alicia knew it was a dream. It was supposed to be one since she knew for a fact that she was asleep. Still, everything was too real. The people, the tower, the foreign language that she didn't understand but sounded familiar to her ears. She knew she has been here before. When? She had no idea. Probably in some other dream when she was a child and had forgotten about.
Among the things she didn't recognize but seemed to be used to, two of them took her attention.The first one, she couldn't put a word on what or who it was, she just saw blue that reminded her of the open sky in the summer and blonde hair that made her think about the stars; the second thing was pain. She didn't felt it but she knew it was there, because somehow all the blue she could see was now dim and full of something that made her heart heavy. It was like the sky was crying.
She needed to say goodbye to that place, she didn't want to. The blue sky felt like home and something that kept her warm, that kept her safe. She didn't want to, but there wasn't another option. So she did.
“Alicia!”
Nick’s voice was what took her away from the dream altogether. It was morning already and her brother got inside the room she shared with Ofelia in a hurry, taking her from the mattress, not even letting her get up by her own.
“What the hell, Nick? What’s going on?”
“We need to leave. Now.”
The fear in her brother’s voice made her blood run cold. She grabbed her backpack and got out of the room with Nick behind, her mom was in the kitchen telling them to go to the car they left in the back as gunshots and screams could be heard coming from the front yard of the house they decided to spend the night. She recognized Travis voice but there was someone else there too.
As soon as she was in the car her mom called they were all set and Travis made his way to the back of the truck, a blonde woman came along with him and they left. Alicia was able to see everything from the rear view in the passenger’s side, she wasn’t surprised when many Walkers came from the house as her mother drove away, following the car in front of them that probably had Ofelia, Chris and Daniel inside.
Everyone was panting, the tension in the car was being slowly replaced by relief as the knowledge that everyone was alive sink in. However, Alicia was still spacing out a bit, things changed too fast and she was finding difficulty to process what was the dream and what was right here and right now, she probably just needed a break to actually wake up so she rested her head in the window and closed her eyes. Taking deep breaths helped her mind become clear but the heavy sensation in her stomach wouldn’t go away. All she could think was that the blue sky was crying and for some reason it made her want to cry too. When did she become such an emotional idiot? It was just a dream. That was stupid.
“Are you ok, honey?”. The voice of her mom and a soft hand on her shoulder took her away from her thoughts.
“Ah… she’s scared of the Walkers…”. Nick mocked and she looked to him with a not-so-friendly expression. Too bad he was more than used to it and just laughed.
“I’m fine.” She said wiping the tears that were threatening to fall and dismissed her mom’s concern
Looking at the central rear view she noticed the two figures on the back. Travis talked ablaze with his hands as the blonde woman next to him seemed to nod, she couldn’t tell what they were talking about. “Who is she?”
“Oh, Hot blondie. She helped us”
“Nick…” Madison repressed. “She came in the middle of the night and wanted to trade supplies. Travis made her stay the night”
“And we trust her because....?”
“Are you deaf, Alicia? Hot. Blondie”
“Nick!”
The girl looked again through the mirror to the person sitting next to Travis. She couldn’t see much of the other girl, except for the (faux) leather jacket, the sunglasses and her blonde hair in a messy bun. Alicia didn’t like to trust strangers, a few encounters had already proven that it usually is a mistake, but considering they were a group of 7 (and they had Daniel) and the girl was all alone, even if she wanted to cause trouble, she would be in serious disadvantage.
“How did the Walkers find us?”
“The ones in the basement of the supermarket we went yesterday. They broke free” Her mom answered.
“Just like that?” She asked skeptical.
“Apparently”.
“Hot blondie was the first to wake up so we could leave. She helped Travis hold them back.”
Of course. How convenient.
“Nick, she has a name!”
“I know, mom. But hot blondie sounds better than-”
Alicia put her earphones on and cut off the rest of the conversation. She wanted to know more about the woman in the back because clearly there was something really suspicious in that story. However, worry about her now, while they were escaping and trying to find shelter was useless. The brunette just made a mental note to keep an eye on her.
She decided to close her eyes and rest her head on the window again, hoping that the song could make her forget about the pain, the sky and the dim blue of her dreams.
I looked away
Then I looked back at you
You tried to say
The things that you can't undo
If I had my way
I'd never get over you
But today's the day
I pray that we make it through
Make it through the fall
Make it through it all
Alicia opened her eyes once she noticed the car was finally stopping, she opened the door almost without waiting for her mother to park the vehicle properly. They were in front of another quarantine zone, the front gates seemed intact, but the smell of dead bodies was lingering in the air. Daniel got out of the dark green car in front of them and went to check the gates, once they were open everyone waited a bit, with no signals of Walkers or other people, they got in. Only Ofelia and Madison stayed in the cars, ready to drive, just in case they needed to get the hell out of there.
Chris gave her the baseball bat as they reached the first houses and walked towards the back to reach the fence limit. This safe zone was much smaller than the one the army put around their neighborhood, there shouldn’t be more than 20 houses inside the fence, 10 in each side of the street, so with a “Be careful” from Travis, they had decided to split up, Alicia, Chris and Daniel went for the right while Nick and the others, including miss Blonde, went for the left side.
The houses were all clear, just a few half eaten dead bodies inside and blood everywhere. The huge hole in the back of the fence that surrounded the safe zone was the real problem, there were a few Walkers at distance that could easily get through.
“It was opened on purpose.”
The stranger stated as a matter of a fact as they regrouped and faced the hole. Alicia jumped a bit at the unexpected sound.
“How do you know?”. She asked with a stoic expression, even though the other girl probably knew she had scared her.
“Someone needed to hold those things back so the army could escape”. It was just a matter of a fact again.
“And how you happen to know they did just that?”
“You think they wouldn’t?”
The girl left to follow the others and help find a good house to stay in. The challenge in her voice daring Alicia to disagree. But she couldn’t, the blonde was probably right. It doesn’t mean that the brunette liked it, this girl was trouble, she knew that and it was making Alicia like or trust her even less.
In the end, they decided to stay in the cleaner house closer to the front gate. After taking all the supplies they could find and barricade the fence in the back, all there was left to do was settle for the night. The adults would take turns on watch so they wouldn't be surprised again.
After an unnecessary attempt of family dinner, Alicia went to a room upstairs over the sound of her mother saying they would all sleep in the living room or the kitchen since it was easier to leave in case of an emergency. She ignored, of course, mostly because Elyza, the stranger that helped them, was the one that pointed that out. The girl was annoying in all senses, always talking like she had memorized The Survivors 101 book, or like she was the ultimate expert on Walkers and how all the humans were disposable garbage. The worse of it all was the look of admiration everyone was giving her, except for Nick and Chris that were only one step from literally drowning.
How could all those lackwits trust someone they knew for less than 24 hours? At least Daniel seemed to get the bad vibe from her too, but he keeps that frown all the time, it was hard to tell if he likes her or not.
Alicia had kept her distance as much as she could, not interacting with her but never keeping the blonde out of her sight for too long. She didn't trust her any bit and the idea of spending the rest of the night sharing the same air with someone so unbearable was out of question. Even though Elyza had a point, Alicia wouldn't let her know that.
She stepped out of the window and went to sit at the roof, the chilly air was supportable, still it made her shiver when a particular blow got through the thin material of her plaid shirt, her jacket was downstairs but there was nothing in hell or earth that would make her go back there. The sky at night was more tolerable, with no trace of blue it seemed less sad, less empty, Alicia could finally look at it, not that she was avoiding looking up at the sky during the whole day just because of a dream. That would be ridiculous.
The noise of someone closing the door and footsteps getting closer took her attention out of the sky.
“Go away”. It was loud and clear, didn't make the person change her mind though, as she could see bright blonde hair stepping out of the window. Perfect.
How could she make her hair seems glow even at night, anyway? If you look closer, they had the same color of the stars.
“What do you want?”. Alicia said with the most passive aggressive voice she could master.
The answer was a snort. Followed by her jacket being thrown right at her face and sliding slowly to her lap.
“Your family is playing Monopoly, don’t care to join in?”. The girl said as she sat in front of Alicia with a respectable distance between them. When the brunette offered nothing, she kept going. “What? You only like Jenga or something?”. Radio silence. “You don’t like me, do you?”
Alicia looked back at her but didn’t answer right away, she took her time to put the jacket on. “I don’t know you. Why should I?”
“Fair enough…”
They remained quiet for a couple of minutes until the brunette rolled one of her sleeves, took a permanent marker from the back pocket and started to move it softly over her skin, trying to make an intricate heart pattern that resembled the one up into the opposite arm.
“Is your soulmate safe?”
The question made Alicia jump for the second time in that day. She got distracted enough with the draw she totally forgot about the blonde right in front of her. It had nothing to do, of course, on how comfortable the silence between them had been. She just shrugged.
“You know how this soulmate thing works, right?”. It was rhetorical. What a stupid question, of course she knew how it worked, everybody did. People had told that it was all about soul connection and for some unknown reason every time you marked your skin, it could be a scar; a tattoo; or a simple doodle made with a pen, the same thing would appear in your soulmate’s skin, always in the same place. But this was only possible once you have actually met them.
There wasn’t a specific amount of time needed to be spent with the soulmate, scientists said even the small interactions was enough to be able to initiate this phenomenon. Given the circumstances, it wasn’t rare to find people who never met their soulmate, or at least never knew they have met them, but the ones who did always said it was an fulfilling,intimate experience.
To be fair, the chances of finding your soulmate in the middle of this chaos were even lower, almost unrealistic. They probably were just Walkers by now.
“Never met them. You?”
“Me neither”
Alicia put them marker aside and looked up to the sky again, they fell in silence one more time. It wasn’t that long until Elyza broke it again.
“Look. I know you don’t trust me, I don’t blame you. But I’m just trying to survive here, same as you.”
The brunette noded. It was clear the situation was more dangerous to the blonde than it was for her family. They were 7 and she was alone. “I know.”
“Can we restart then?”. The girl offered one hand.
Alicia rested her gaze on her. It was too dark to see the color of her eyes but they carried something familiar inside, that was probably the only reason why she moved her own hand to hold hers. Despite all the leather jacket, black jeans and combat boot outfit, maybe the blonde wasn’t THAT bad. At least her grip was pretty warm, even though her fingers were cold.
“Elyza Lex. Nice to meet you.”
“Alicia Clark”
They moved back to the living room to go sleep after sometime. Alicia didn’t know for how long they stayed on the roof, but by now everyone was sleeping, except for Ofelia that was watching the window and offered her a smile as they got comfortable on the stern floor.
In the next morning, she woke up to the sound of laughter. It wasn't something uncommon for that group, but for her it seemed too forced and unnecessary during an apocalypse. It never stopped her mother or Travis from trying.
“Happy family this one of yours.”
Elyza’s voice didn’t startled her this time. It didn’t mean her ability to came out of nowhere wasn’t very close to be importunate.
She rolled her eyes, got up and went to refresh herself, when she came back to the living room the blonde was in the same place on the floor, head resting on the couch, sunglass covering most of her expression and a gun on her lap as if she was waiting for something. Alicia stopped on her tracks, was ‘Beautiful’ supposed to be the first word she found to describe the scene? Definitely not.
“Ready, Smartass?”
“For what?”
“Duty call”. The blonde got up and went for the front door, taking the baseball bat with her and twirling it in her hands. Alicia couldn’t help but follow, the bat was hers after all, she needed to get it back.
Stepping on the street, she noticed Daniel and Ofelia walking towards the front gate while Elyza was going in the opposite direction. They were going to check of barricade they made in the back of the fence.
Alicia quickly fell into pace with the blonde, there were Walkers nearby yesterday, the chances they got closer by now weren’t low. She needed to take a deep breath to calm herself, even after a couple of weeks and a few encounters with those things she still got a bit nervous. The brunette holded the bat firmly when Elyza gave it to her with a smirk, the increase of the discomfort on her stomach having nothing to do with that, of course. She decided speaking would help think about something else.
“Why are you still with us?”
“Look, she asks questions too!”. The girl was sarcastic, magnificent.
Alicia rolled her eyes. “Are you avoiding the question?”
“Nope”. The tone changed slightly, but somehow she knew the blonde was all serious now, even if she still sounded the same. “I told you already. I’m just trying to survive.”
Alicia noded in understanding “Being in a group is easier than alone.”
“Safer”. Elyza was always looking forward and the sunglasses didn’t allow anyone to read her expression, there was something behind it, however. The brunette could feel that.
“And weird happy family was your go?”.
The girl only gave her a side smile.
Elyza stopped as they got close to the barricade, a Walker managed to get through it and was coming in their direction slowly, they could see 4 more Walkers attempting to do the same. The blonde sighed.
“Give me the bat”. She said as she handled the gun to Alicia. “Don’t want to waste any bullets and the noise will just attract more of them”
She did what she was told and waited a few steps behind with the gun pointed to the Walker as Elyza simply reduced the distance between her and the thing coming for them, only then the brunette registred what was going to happen. This girl was insane.
As the creature made a move to bite her, the blonde just dodged to the left and hit the back of the Walker’s knee with the baseball bat, making it fall, before it could get up she hit its head with enough force to don’t let it come back. It was messy, there was blood everywhere but Elyza ignored her clothes state and just moved towards the barricade, the intention of taking down the rest of them that were by the fence clear by the determined way she walked.
“Wait!”. Alicia run to catch up with her. “It’s dangerous, they’re 4. Why don’t we just shoot them?”
“Are you worried?”
This was serious, there was no time for jokes, mockery… to flirt? Or whatever the fuck she was trying to do. The brunette got angry, her voice louder than the usual “I’m not kidding!”
“Neither do I. Don’t lose a nerve, Smartass. I know what I’m doing.”
With that Elyza got through the fence by the path the dead(er) Walker used, Alicia followed her but kept her distance, gun aimed to the creature’s heads in case something went wrong. She lowered the weapon once the 4 Walkers were down.
“See?”. The blonde smirked at her again, taking off her sunglass to wipe the blood out of it.
Then Alicia noticed she wasn’t supposed to be surprised when it started to rain because the sky had been gray since she woke up that morning. She did though, but only because the shade of color she saw on Elyza’s eyes could only make her think of how blue and clear the sky was supposed to be. It didn’t fit with the clouds and the intense rain that was falling right now. Though it almost fit with the blue of her dreams, the eyes wasn’t exactly the same color, not as bright or dim as two nights ago, but the resemblance was there, pretty unquestionable.
They went back to the house as fast as they could, the rain was getting stronger and the wind was threatening to become violent, maybe it was a storm, a big one. Ofelia and Daniel met them by the door as they too came back running away from the rain.
The blood from Elyza’s jacket was washed by the huge drops, her hair out of the bun stuck to her neck and shoulder, looking down Alicia noticed that her shirt had the same fate and if it wasn't for the trees that have an elaborated pattern along the fabric, her chest would be very much exposed. The skin of her stomach didn't have the same luck. Not that Alicia was paying attention.
“Any Walker?”. Travis asked as he emerged from the kitchen, followed by the rest of them that had stayed in the house.
The four people that went to check the fence did their best to get dry as they told what happened. Daniel and Ofelia haven't found any trouble. The blonde only said they found Walkers but they had taken care of them, but thanks to the storm they couldn't reinforce the barricade, it will have to wait.
Travis gave everyone his best ‘good job’ smile and Madison went to check if anyone was hurt. Chris and Nick didn't waste any time in drowning over Elyza as she proceeded to tell how she killed the Walker that got inside the fence. Alicia just rolled her eyes.
The brunette was going upstairs when her brother called. “Hey, Alicia. So you two are friends now? Did Elyza worked her magic on you too?”
“Wow, stop there. I'm not working any magic on anyone that is 15”.
They laughed and brunette didn't even bother to answer, but before she could disappear in the stairs she heard Nick say she was actually 17.
Three knocks at the door let her know her mom was coming in. She was currently lying on the bed with Ofelia by her side reading a book, they had to take off the sheets and flip the mattress, since everything, including the headboard, had blood stains, but thanks to this shitty storm she couldn't go to the roof and the room was the quietest place on the house to listen to her music. It was difficult to keep charging her phone as the places who still have any kind of electrical power were now rare, it wouldn’t stop her from carry it everywhere.
“Ofelia, could you give me a minute with my daughter?”
Alicia took a deep breath. She could hear her mother through the music so she met her eyes as she felt more than saw Ofelia leaving the room. What was wrong now? Madison heard the question before the brunette could say anything.
“Are you OK?”
“Yes. Why wouldn't I be?”
“Elyza said you found some of those things”
“Walkers. 5 of them.”
They stayed in silence for the time it took for Madison to sit on the edge of the mattress and rest her hand comforting on Alicia's knee
“Are you sure you're ok, honey?”
“I am, mom. Why you keep asking?”
“You seem a little off since yesterday”
It was true, but they were in the middle of nowhere in some sort of apocalypse. How could one be completely OK? Even though she had to admit that since the weird dream, her head was finding some difficulty to catch up with her brain sometimes. The lack of sleep was not helping either.
“Look, Alicia…” Her mom started. “I know you are upset about Elyza, but she’s all alone here and did nothing more than help us so far”.
She sighed and readjusted herself to sit on the bed. Why everything had to be about this girl?
Her mom thought it was a cue to keep going. “We could not just leave her behind.”
“Of course not…”
“Honey, please. Travis and I are keeping an eye on her”. Alicia just nodded, there was nothing she could do now because what her mother said made sense. It didn’t mean she wouldn’t help them keep an eye on the blonde too.
“It's fine”
Madison gave her a smile. “C’mon, dinner is ready and tonight we're gonna play poker. We will use chocolate bars as coins.”
No need to say that after 10 rounds there were only three people left with chocolate. Alicia, Nick, who had most of it, and Elyza, the ‘adults’ were out and decided for drinking something in the kitchen while Chris had quit to enjoy the five bars he still had before poker took that too.
The living room was quiet since the three of them were doing their best to concentrate. Alicia noticed, as the others two made their moves, that Elyza changed her clothes but still had a jacket on, not that it was supposed to bother her but with all the lit candles around, the room was pretty hot.
“Is it worth it to melt inside that jacket just to keep the looks?”.
She noticed she said that out loud only when two faces turned at her direction, one completely amused, the other with a brow raised wondering what kind of problem she had. After a bit, the amused one burst into laughter.
Elyza’s laugh was different from every other she had heard so far, the rasp of her voice not so well noticeable when she talked was very clear right now, distracting the brunette from the utter embarrassment she should be feeling, but not for too long.
“Yeah, Smartass. It’s worth it… cause it’s sexy”.
The red of her cheeks that decided to migrate all the way up to her ears and down her neck was luckily hidden by the dim light of the room, it didn’t kept Elyza and her brother from laughing again at her, all she could do was maintain a straight face and pretend it wasn’t affecting her at all. She wouldn’t really mind though, if it meant to hear the blonde’s laugh one more time.
She didn’t let them know that.
They had to sleep again along the kitchen and living room and since they really doubt anything or anyone would come close to the house with the storm no one was on watching. Said storm lasted all night, Alicia would know because she only managed to fall asleep when it ended and she could hear birds making noise from her corner on the kitchen floor. The sky was probably turning blue right now, the same shade of blue she knew it belonged to the eyes of the girl laying a few feet from her. She didn't know Elyza, she didn't trust Elyza, still some sort of force inside her kept saying she should give the blonde a chance, especially after dreaming again with the blue sky, the blue eyes and the undeniable feeling that she was at home.
They two went to check the fence again in the morning. No Walkers this time but they would have to basically make another barricade since the storm destroyed most of it.
“Do we really need to do this? It's not like we're gonna be here for too long”
“What’s the problem, Smartass? Don't enjoy some physical work?”
Alicia stopped help pushing the trashed car they were going to use. Elyza turned to her with a smirk on her face.
“Why do you keep calling me that?”
“Well, you’re smart, right?”. Alicia waited. “And I need to say that you have a nice a-”.
The blonde didn't get to finished the phrase as Alicia pressed the baseball bat on her chest making her back hit the car. Elyza raised her hands in surrender but the smirk only turned into a grin. It only made the brunette more pissed off.
“You should start to learn how to respect other people.” Alicia watched as the other girl moved her hand slowly to take the sunglasses, their bodies close enough that she could feel the warmth coming from the blonde. When the blue eyes were revealed behind the dark lens, Alicia almost choked on her own breath.
At this distance she could see the exact shade of baby blue they were, not even the sky above them could be this clear because of some clouds here and there, those eyes were all blue, perhaps like the ocean but darker. In her dreams the color was the same and the blonde hair reminded her of the stars that were there too at some point.
It should have been awkward the amount of time they spent that close, but the brunette didn't back off until she could pinpoint where she have seen those colors before, only then she noticed Elyza was searching for something on her too, or maybe waiting, she couldn't really tell.
She took a step back, finally putting some distance between them. The silence was heavy but it was like they had an agreement that they knew what the other was doing and solemnly respect it.
Their hearts were beating fast. Alicia knew this for a fact because she had to swallow down the loop hers made on her throat. Elyza didn't look any better, she wasn't even wearing that smug grin anymore.
“We should go back to fix the barricade”. Alicia said and they started to push the car again.
The blonde wanted to say something, she could feel it somehow, and the fact that the other girl was voting for staying quiet was slowly getting on her nerves again. Before she demanded her to say what she wanted, Ofelia and Daniel showed up to help them.
A few days passed and it was like a switch was hit. Since the incident at the barricade she was hyper aware of the blonde’s presence. She wanted to believe that it had to do with the fact the other girl wasn't wearing the sunglasses anymore, so Alicia was seeing flashes of blue every once in awhile with the corner of her eyes. It was very distracting.
It helped nothing when the other girl seemed to just gravitate towards her. During meals; when they found a new place to stay and needed to check if it was all clear; during the games nights; even when Alicia was just lying somewhere listening to her music she was always around and with the passing days the brunette got used to it. She could almost say she trusted her.
Even though Elyza usually kept a respectable distance between them, a few innocent touches weren't rare. A hand on a shoulder; holding hands that one time they needed to run; or even when they found a motorcycle and Elyza wanted them to go for a ride, with nowhere to hold into, Alicia had to keep her arms around the blonde’s waist.
What happened back at the barricade wasn’t mentioned again, but she knew Elyza noticed something changed too. She wasn't exactly flirtatious, but if lingering eye contact and the smiles that appeared every time she caught Alicia's staring was any indication…
Still, what was happening right now took her by surprise. It almost looked one of those sitcoms from the 90’s which when a very cliche thing happened between the boy and the girl, they ended up kissing. It would be cliche if it wasn't for the dozens of Walkers passing outside the car Alicia and the blonde were hiding. They were lying down in the back seat with Elyza on top of her, their faces centimeters apart.
Alicia had dragged her inside by the collar of the leather jacket and pulled the blonde against her as she closed the door. Now they were waiting for the Walkers get out of a store they just found so they could get the supplies. The tension was palpable and with the blonde’s eyes so close to her, Alicia had nowhere to look; she could also feel the breath on her face and the smell of her hair, not to mention the places their bodies were touching and how their thighs were tangled.
No one dared to talk and it didn't take long until the strength of the blonde's arms gave in and she had to lay completely on Alicia, hiding her face close to the brunette’s neck and among the brown hair. Elyza’s breath was hitting the sensitive skin and spreading warmth through her body, they were so close she could almost feel the parted lips too.
“I think they're gone”.
The raspy, low voice was too much. It couldn't be fair, really. Because when someone whisper in your ear like this, they probably know exactly what they are doing.
When Elyza started to get up, she was brought right back down by her collar and when her lips crashed with Alicia's, they couldn't help a small moan that sounded way too loud inside the car.
The kiss was soft and tempting, with the two of them not even moving their lips or trying to deepen it. Still, they were breathing heavily when they parted. Alicia a bit awestruck and Elyza with a huge grin on her face.
“Couldn't resist, huh?”. The blonde said only to be slapped on her arm.
“Shut up. We need to get the supplies”
Elyza chuckled. “Sure we do”.
They went for the store and managed to get some bottles of water. There were more things they could have got but the place was bigger than they thought which means there were still a good number of Walkers inside, they would need to come back with everyone.
They got in their bikes and all the way to their current house Elyza had a smug grin on her face and Alicia tried to act as if she was annoyed and by any means thought it was cute or sexy. The fact that she wasn't fooling anyone only made the blonde's grin bigger.
Half an hour later they were sticking the water bottles on the trunk of one of the cars.
“So…”. Elyza started. “You kissed me”
“I did”. Alicia said with a straight face, as if the memory of the kiss wasn't making her blush or her heart beat like crazy.
What a bullshit.
The first thing the brunette felt was a hand on her shoulder, turning her around so her back was touching the car; the next one was a body pressed against hers, just like a few minutes ago, only this time they were standing.
“I don’t play games, Smartass"
With that the blonde's lips was on hers again, but this time the kiss wasn't soft, it was hungry as Elyza pressed her further against the car, hands on her waist made their way up to her back as her grip on the other girl’s neck brought them closer. Lips parted and tongues met making Alicia shiver, fingers traced her spine as if they were following the goosebumps running there. They shifted their heads, months separating enough just for them to try to take control of the shaky breaths, before they could reconnect them someone cleared their throat behind Elyza.
Alicia jumped a bit and tried to put some distance between them with no success. The blonde didn't budge, she just turned to see who was the person that had interrupted them.
Ofelia was clearly trying not to laugh.
“Sorry, guys… huh… Alicia, your mom is looking for you”
The brunette quickly slipped from between the blonde and the car, she walked past Ofelia as fast as she could, not daring to look into her eyes, afraid to reveal how flustered she actually was.
They all went back to the store a couple of hours before the sunset, this time it was decided everyone should go inside so they would able to carry more things and get away faster. They were divided in two groups of four which Daniel, Travis, Madison and Elyza would kill the Walkers and clear the way so the others could get the food, water or whatever they needed. Of course they didn’t try to kill every single Walker inside the store, just the ones on their way between the car and the things they wanted, always trying to make as less noise as possible.
Elyza stayed close to the brunette, basically playing bodyguard walking her from the aisles inside the store to the car then back to the store. Before they could got in one more time, the blonde stopped her, holding her arm.
“Alicia, wait.”
“We don’t have time to fool around now. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But could you give me a second? I need to say something to you”
“Can it wait until we get back to the house? We are sort of in a hurry, you know, with the food and Walkers everywhere…”
The blonde chuckled. “No. To be honest, I don’t think I can wait any-”
That’s when they heard the screams that Alicia recognized as coming from her mother and Ofelia. Gun shots and the sound of multiple things falling were what made they run back inside, the view in front of them looked more like some sort of weird nightmare that you don’t know how your mind could come up with because it was too unreal. Still, there it was before their eyes, so many Walkers, hundreds of them, coming from somewhere in the very back of the store, taking over the place.
Alicia wanted to search for her family, but there were Walkers coming towards the two of them from the aisles on the right and soon it was going to be impossible for them to step further into the place. The brunette panicked and for a moment she was frozen on the spot until the voice of her mother coming from somewhere close woke her up.
“RUN!! ALICIA, RUN! GET AWAY FROM HERE!”
Her immediate reaction was to reach for her. She had to do something to save her mother, not that she was even considering she could die in the process, but before she could take a step on her mom’s direction, strong arms were around her waist and pulling her out of the store.
“No! Let me go! Elyza let me go, I have to save them!”
“No, Alicia. It’s too dangerous”
The brunette wasn’t giving up, she struggled and got out of the blonde’s gasp. She tried to run but Elyza didn’t let her go much further and dragged a screaming Alicia back to the car.
The Walkers were starting to leave the store in their slow pace, the blonde had her pressed against the car door preventing her to come back to rescue her family.
“Elyza, no. Please let me go.” She started to sound defeated and at this point the tears were rolling down her face.
“I’m sorry. I can’t let you go there. You’re going to die”. Punches and pushes were delivered all over the blonde’s front but she hold her ground.
“It’s my family there!”
“I know, but I can’t lose you too”
“What are you talking a-”
Elyza rolled the right sleeve of her jacket, halfway up her arm there was a drawing of a heart, it was almost faded out but Alicia knew why. It was because even though permanent markers were difficult to wash off from the skin, they don’t last forever and since she recognized the draw as the one she did on her own arm on the rooftop the night she and the blonde first talked, she knew she hasn’t reapplied more ink on it since the incident on the barricade.
She had simply forgotten about it.
So it was obvious that if the drawing on her right arm was fading, the one o Elyza’s was too.
Everything was connected. The sky and the blue eyes, the blonde hair and the stars. Everything made sense now.
“I can’t lose you, Alicia”.
The blonde’s voice was soft, almost a plea and in any other circumstances she would have listened because how couldn’t she? But right now there were many horrendous creatures coming for them, her family was probably dying inside the store and she needed to do something. This whole soulmate bullshit would have to wait.
“We can’t just go away like this”
Elyza looked back at the store for a moment. The gunshots had stopped.
“Come with me. Fast.”
They runned towards the back of the building, avoiding the mass of Walkers exiting the place from the front doors. They managed to find a ladder and took it with them to the roof, Elyza seemed to know what she was doing because she found an opening, big enough to a person get through, probably made to facilitate the maintenance.
They looked down and inside the store, thanks to the orange light of the sunset they could still easily see everything. And there was her family, each one of them, sitting on the top of the big tall shelves, patiently waiting for the Walkers go away. Alicia has never felt more relieved in her life.
Using a flashlight Elyza caught their attention and put the ladder down on the closest shelf, one by one they made their way up to the roof.
Alicia was still a bit shaken and couldn’t help but hug everyone as they emerged from inside the store.
“What’s up with that?” Nick asked. “Thought you were going to get rid of us?”. She almost punched him right away.
“Maybe next time you see a locked door with a Don’t Open warning in it, you should listen”. Chris said as they caught their breaths and started to get down from the building.
They had to leave the cars behind but would come back in the other day to get them since most of the supplies were already inside the trunks and by that time the crowd of Walkers would have been gone.
A few hours had passed, and the nightmare of the store seemed almost forgotten. After dinner Alicia crawled to the rooftop again, a black permanent marker on her hand as she looked at the stars and drawn a couple of them on her arm, it didn’t take long for Elyza to join her.
The blonde sat in front of her like usual. She carried the leather jacket on her hands, exposing the black stars that seemed to keep coming out of nowhere.
“Does it hurt?”. Alicia asked. “When they show up on your skin?”
“No”.
With no further answer, the brunette looked up to met the other girl’s gaze. Luckily some houses in this neighborhood still had power, so even at night she could perfectly see the baby blue eyes, even though she thought they looked more beautiful in daylight. When it was dark they turned into a shade that was almost green, but Alicia had always have a special affection for the blue sky. No one ever knew, not even herself, she guesses that now she knows why.
“How long did you know ?”. Elyza avoided her eyes, finding a particular star close to her wrist very interesting. “How long?!”
“The morning after we talked on the roof. I went to change my clothes and the heart you made was there.” A marker hitting her face made her look at the brunette again.
“And you didn’t think about telling me?!”
“You hated me!”
“I didn’t hate you. I’m your fucking soulmate, asshole!”
“Alicia, I-”
Shutting someone up with a kiss is just another cliche thing. If it was some other time she would have rolled her eyes and thought about how pathetic it looked, but the taste and the softness of the blonde’s mouth didn’t left any space on her mind to think about anything except for the kiss and how they ended up lying down, with Alicia on top this time, taking her time to bite and suck on the lower lip.
They decided to cuddle right there on the roof, the brunette still on top of Elyza, resting her head on the girl’s chest and hearing steady heart beats. The blonde was the one to break the silence.
“The night I met your family, I started to dream about falling from the sky, horses rides and a tower in the middle of the florest. The trees had the same colors of your eyes.”
“Do you think it’s a soulmate thing?”
“I have no idea”
After a bit the brunette scoffed. “You wouldn’t tell me anyway, would you?”
Elyza let out a sigh. “I’m sorry about that.”
“You know what…” Alicia said holding her weight with her arms just enough so she could look into the blue eyes. “You knew all this time and still tried to seduce me when you knew it was going to work!”
The blonde laughed. “Well, I wanted to have some fun…”
“You are an asshole.”
“Nope. I’m your soulmate, Smartass”.
The dreams came back that night as they slept side by side on the kitchen floor (Ofelia pretended she didn’t see them holding hands). This time everything was much clear. She heard about people that came from the sky and met a blonde that killed 300 of her warriors; she heard whispers of “ Not yet ” and saw dim blue eyes as she left her behind; She saw storms when they met again and nothing more than love when she was forgiven.
She also saw the blue eyes cry when they said their final goodbyes. “ In peace may you leave the shore...”. But Alicia knew they wouldn’t cry anymore, since all they wished was to see each other again and they just did.